Reviews by mjw06:

Looked watered down on the pour with its light brown color and the way the glass was filled. Dark brown with translucency when hit with any light, not directly. Small head that leaves a little bit of lacing. The smell is a little sweet and toasted bready, but fairly faint.

Taste confirms the appearance, watered down. Light browned-chocolate. But other than that, the taste is pretty disappointing and weak.

Way too weak and light-bodied for a porter. Not much of a "winter warmer" either. I'd avoid this beer. Plenty of chocolate/cocoa porters and stouts that are way better than this. It's barely sessionable, as the watered down burnt cocoa isn't all that appeasing to me.

Very dark amber-brown color that's just light enough to be able to see through when put up to the light. The head drops quickly to a thin, light tan lacing, and more or less struggles to stay around. The aroma jumps from cocoa powder to carob, hint of caramel to a faint honey. A moderate-sized, slick body holds a small but smooth carbonation. Cocoa powder heads off the taste profile, and a mild roasted grain flavor follows soon after. Flashes of maltiness and honey sweetness in the middle. Hop bitterness is very mild. Finishes with a dry, semiburnt, biscuit flavor.

This is what you call a mild extreme beer. A middle-of-the-road Porter that is flavored; not a quaffer, but still pretty enjoyable.

My first impression is: this beer stinks! As in = it smells really really bad. For whatever reason, the scent is of moldy wet burnt carpet. Ick. On the bright side, it looks good. Very dark and the mocha head stays around. I think that's about the only positive thing I have to say about this one. The taste is bad. Its sweet and syrupy and kind of nauseating. Something just doesnt taste right. I dont know what happened here. I want to believe I got a bad bottle. I split this with my girlfriend and could barely finish my 6 ounces.

Sweetened cocoa powder in the nose, darker chocolate but not at all bitter. Taste matches the nose, with a touch of honey on the tongue in the finish. Mouthfeel is thin and and rather slick. Nothing about this suggests a winter warmer - just a simple, straightforward English porter tweaked to taste like a cup of cocoa. Needs a better-defined body and malt foundation.

Taste: cocoa dominates. toasted malt, honey, and a small amount of nut

Mouthfeel: sweet, high carbonation, medium bodied

Drinkability: I think this is a very good winter drink. To me this tastes like a good candy bar. I do like the sweet mix of cocoa and honey. I could session this and wish I could find this out east. You have to like both cocoa and sweeter beers to pick this up though.

Pours out black with a small off white head that goes by fast. No lacing. Smells really nice with strong cocoa scents. But the taste is very bland. The "porter" part of this beer is missing. It's not robust, and over carbonated. There's a sweetness to the beer, but it's evident it's from the honey and not from the malt. Overall, this is a one and done.

Renamed and re-labeled as Tommyknocker Cocoa Porter Seasonal Ale. Still 5.7% ABV and IBU = 18.Slightly past May 2013 "best by" date stamp.Pours clear but very dark reddish brown, with a small head that soon reduces to a partial film and ring. The aroma has a substantial and appealing cocoa element that mixes nicely with the dark roasted malts. No obvious sign of hops here or in the flavor, yet only ever so slightly sweet. Plenty of chocolate in tasting too, along with a hint of coffee. Mouthfeel seems too thin for a brew with these other sensory characteristics. Medium carbonation. Good use of chocolate(?) malts. O: great aroma but the flavor and feel fail to keep pace.

(Served in a nonic)date on bottle Oct. 9 '07 (is that best before or bottled on date?)A- This beer has a jet brown body that is dense with a thick creamy tan head on top that last for a good bit. There is a few strands of microcarbonation that can be seen trailing up the side of the glass.

S- The smell of watery chocolate has a note of instant cocoa and a slight sweetness and powdered milk to it.

T- There is a very light tartness to the beginning followed by a milk chocolate flavor and a tootsie roll flavor. The beer finishes with a light caramel malt sweetness that lingers.

M- This beer has a medium-light mouthfeel with no alcohol heat.

D- This reminds me of what an Ovaltine beer would taste like. There is very little malt qualities and the odd cocoa flavors seem to dominate.

Poured a very very dark brown. Not too much head on it. Definitely pick up a lot of coffee on the nose with a hint of chocolate. Taste is same as the smell and about what you'd expect, cocoa and coffee. Not much aftertaste, not bitter at all. Smooth drinking beer, not too heavy though. Fairly drinkable. I would say a person could put down several of these although it's not really for me.

A dark brown brew just barely allows any light to shine through at the edges. The light brown head sits just under a finger tall and recedes somewhat quickly to a foam that drops plentiful spotty lacing.The aroma is light but nice, showcasing a gently roasted malts character with bittersweet cocoa pulling through under a barley grains backbone. It's not complex, and a little light, but the cocoa is placed in the foreground nicely. A gentle added sweetness of toffee and a light nuttiness add a bit more.Chocolaty in the flavor as well with more nuttiness coming though, it's close to the aroma except that what comes out the strongest on the tongue is a sort of tanginess. I think the bittersweet edge of the cocoa is mingling with a lightly astringent character in the grains. It gets less as I work it out, but it's constant.This is a good porter mouthfeel, medium in body with light carbonation and a good smoothness up front.

Wow, I'm not sure where all the bad vibes are coming from for this beer. While I am not a big chocolate guy, I found it to be pretty interesting.
The head is nice and solid, and the aroma has mainly cocoa, with a tinge of honey maybe.
I didn't get the sourness or bitterness many others got. Sure, there is a bit of bitterness from the cocoa, but since it is a side-effect of the cocoa flavor which predominates, it's not off-putting.
Don't get me wrong, the beer is not spectacular, but it's also not as bad as everyone else at BeerAdvocate has made it out to be..